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25 thoughts on “The Surprising Path to the Future”

4. Start small. If you have trouble feeling gratitude for your biggest endeavors (maybe they aren’t on track), start with the tiny things in your life. The people you know, the food on your plate, your health. They’re easy to take for granted. But learn the value of your basic blessings and you’ll practice your way to gratitude in your career and beyond.

Dear Dan,
I would like to discuss on fixing and preventing- Organizations where fixing is prevalent, make preventive rules afterwards. Such practices often create fear of not doing or avoiding actions. In such organizations , people from the bottom to top are rated, rewarded and promoted based on fixing. So, the one who has not been fixed get promotion and eventually highest position afterwards. And in the process people progresses but organizations suffer. Organizations suffer because do not want to do because of fear of being fixed. In good organizations, leaders and management have clear measure that can minimize error. It means preventive measure are integrated into policies.
And arrogance is perhaps integral part of such organizations. So, fixing and arrogance are ingrained components of sick or ineffective organizations. And preventive measures and gratitude are component of good and effective organizations. I think leaders should see past mistakes in two ways- What caused it to happen and what measures ensured its not repetition. If mistakes repeated often, then somewhere preventive measure is not effective. And this questions the leadership practices.

This one did not connect with me, even after I re-read it. I believe strongly in CONTINUOUS continuous improvement and that the hands on workers offer the real power for improvement. We can engage them if we solve and help them solve workplace issues, which has very little downside other than the fact that it MIGHT have some limiting impacts on Big Innovation.

If you think about Apple, they came up with GREAT new products that reframed industries on a global basis. But those new products were not all that hot when in their first forms. It was the continuous improvement of the iPhone, the addition of apps to solve user problems or offer some small benefits, the changes in hardware and operating systems and all those more often small incremental changes that made the product great. Same with the Mac. I have had 10 different Apple computers and I keep (and will keep) upgrading because they keep improving and fixing things and updating and all that.

I think ANY behavior, overdone, creates problems. Is it good to be creative? Yes, absolutely, unless that continuous creativity prevents anything from being accomplished. Is it good to be detail-oriented? Sure, unless that becomes continuous nit-picking… Anything, taken to its excess, can become problematic.

Good to have banking regulations? Yeah, or we get “Countrywide and BofA and Lehman Brothers” kinds of behaviors that cause global financial system meltdowns. I fear this “austerity” thing will cause real problems when it comes to me getting my next driver’s license. I read that South Carolina is Number Two for a “business climate” and worry that it means no more funding for higher education (we are Number One for cutting aid to the colleges) and its impacts on minimum wage. Heck, if we got everyone to work for $6 an hour, we would be Number One for attracting new companies to our state.

(Nikki Haley, our governor, wants to bring more jobs to SC so that everyone here can have both of the jobs they need to support their families – heck, there is a push to eliminate child labor laws in many states…)

Anyway, I digressed a bit. But I think that it is about balance. My read of this post is that the baby is in the bathwater, still.

Number 4. Imagine what is possible if you build on strengths rather than focus on problems.
Your first thought, that the future is built on our strengths not our problems, is very powerful. As managers, we are expected to solve problems. As leaders, we have to see a better future. Solving our problems helps us build capacity to move ahead. Leadership helps us see what is possible, understand the strengths we have to get there, takes the steps to start the journey, and support those making the journey.
I like that you mentioned balance. Our challenge is to balance management and leadership. Management helps us anticipate and solve the inevitable problems that come up. Leadership ensures that we don’t make our teams feel like they are the problem. Problems get solved because we recognize and leverage our strengths. We can express gratitude for that. Then we lead to move strengths from problems to progress. So, we are balancing pushing ahead with patching up problems that come from pushing ahead.
As you say, tipping toward the future is the goal. That comes from recognizing and growing our strengths so we have more capacity to move ahead than we have to expend to solve problems. If we solve problems in a way that builds strength by showing gratitude for and encouraging strengths, then we tip toward the future.
Thanks, as always, for helping me go deeper into what can go right.

Important addition here… I notice you bring managing into the conversation and I agree. Problem solving is more managing than leading. Of course one could say solving problems is the way managers lead.🙂 Great add here…thanks

Standing still is a fantasy for those oblivious to decline. Nice. The other keys, Dan, are gratitude, which you speak so well of and humility. I find that humility can provide the earth and nutrients for gratitude to grow.

I love to teach people to think creatively! if more people used the creative force together a lot of things would be so much easier!!!
Here is a part of what I wrote about creativity a while ago! It’s almost like a poem….

Creativity matters

Creativity is free

Creativity is the solutions to loads of problems that we are struggling with every day

Creativity is not a talent we are born with, but a skill that can be learnt

Creativity is strengthening people natural abilities, which is good for productivity, teamwork and your profit

Being creative is to see what is possible in situations when others see problems